When a horse becomes “cinchy,” saddling can get downright dangerous if left unaddressed—escalating from a harmless flick of the ears, to biting, kicking, or even pulling back and flipping over. Julie Goodnight explains what “cinchy” means, what causes it, and how to resolve it in the latest episode of Ride On with Julie Goodnight. (JulieGoodnight.com/Podcast)
“Some horses are naturally sensitive to having the saddle cinched onto their backs,” says Goodnight. “For many horses, it’s something that develops over time. It can become ingrained, and increasingly dangerous and frightening.”
Some types of horses are more prone to cinchy behavior than others, and because of certain factors, can be subjected to over-tightened girths.
“When a horse is very round and low-withered, the saddle slips easily, and the girth gets tightened again and again in an attempt to prevent it from slipping,” says Goodnight. “Then there are certain disciplines or activities when the saddle slipping at the wrong time would be catastrophic, like roping, cutting, or carrying pack saddles.”
Goodnight talks to listeners about the behaviors they need to watch for in their own horses, how to find the root causes and offers training solutions to fix this common issue.
“Since cinchy behavior is often caused by the person saddling the horse, the first thing to do when you see signs of resistance in a horse is to check yourself, and change what you are doing in the saddling process,” says Goodnight. “Stopping the cycle early will prevent habitual behaviors from developing and help keep your horse in a more positive mindset.”
Listen and subscribe to Ride On with Julie Goodnight at JulieGoodnight.com/Podcast, or any podcast app.
About Julie Goodnight
Goodnight is well known as the popular host and producer of Horse Master, a successful how-to TV series on handling, riding, and training horses. Goodnight travels extensively sharing her no-nonsense horsemanship with riders of all disciplines, as well as offering online training and coaching, a popular podcast, and a syndicated column on horsemanship. Goodnight is experienced with many kinds of riding—she grew up on the hunter-jumper circuits in Florida, rode racehorses through college, and is now at home in the West. She and her husband, Rich Moorhead, live in the mountains near Salida, Colorado, and enjoy riding the trails and training cow-horses.
Explore Goodnight’s training library of articles, videos, and more at JulieGoodnight.com/Academy.
Contact: press@juliegoodnight.com
High resolution photos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WZJumO_MGH5YAqKkf2-oq4L6bUXhJFOP?usp=sharing